Source Material
by ellabellbee
Summary: "Don't you want to know what it says? Doesn't this peak your interest? How cool would it be if Nikki Heat fought REAL monsters?" Richard Castle visits an occult store, and needs a linguist. Originally posted on LJ 2011-12-10.


**Written for LJ's xover-exchange community. Posted originally 2011-12-10.**

* * *

He really didn't know how it came to this, with the tip of a very shiny knife placed up against his neck while Beckett was standing pressed against the bookshelves with her hands up, her gun on the floor across the room, and a crossbow trained directly on her heart.

The girl with the knife stepped a bit closer to him and he could see the fear in her eyes. "Who are you?"

He looked wildly around the room looking for anything that might clue him into what this girl was looking for or who they thought he was, but there was nothing new. It looked exactly the way a library should.

"Richard Castle, like I said on the phone!" he managed to gasp out, mindful of the knife that could slip with any word he said.

The girl squinted her eyes as if trying to really examine him, and he looked over to Beckett. She stood stoically with a careful gaze on their captors, and he could tell that she was searching for any weakness, or any tell that might help them out of this situation.

"Beckett," he whispered, trying to stay as still as possible. "I'm sorry."

She smiled sadly at him, but her eyes still held fire. She wasn't giving up, and neither would he. He assessed the girl in front of him again. Clearly she was very strong and very fast. The older man was very smart. What would one of his characters do?

He heard a kind of growl from the other side of the room and a group of people walked slowly towards them. Her attention was pulled away from him, to the much scarier sight across the room.

If _Beckett_ was scared, what could _he_ possibly do?

**2 days earlier**

"Really, Castle? A Fantasy Novel?"

He sat in his seat at her desk and grinned at Kate's scepticism. "Hey, don't worry, I'm not forgetting about Nikki Heat. This isn't a Derrick Storm type crisis. I just... want to expand my horizons."

She tapped her pen against the desk and pressed her lips together. "Hey, I'm not objecting if you want to try writing new things. I could use the peace and quiet around here."

"Oh, you can't get rid of me that easy. No, this will be about a cop who happens to find out that about all the things that go bump in the night."

She raised her eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've fallen into the vampire obsession with all the pre-teens."

"Please," he said with a wave of his hand. "Alexis and I read those damn sparkly vampire books when they came out, and we didn't stop laughing for days." He chuckled, lost in memory, but then became focused again. "What ever happened to the days when vampires were evil? When werewolves were to be feared? Writers are even making zombies sympathetic. No. I want to dive into the darker side of the nightlife, where monsters still live in the shadows, and there are ordinary people who become heroes to keep the world safe and oblivious." He smirked. "And maybe I'll learn some interesting in the process."

Kate laughed. "Really, Castle? I know you like to throw these theories out while we're on cases, but are you actually hoping to find out that vampires are real?"

"Ah, Beckett the sceptic. But really, look at this." He paused and out of a new messenger bag he pulled out a large, old book bound in leather.

He turned it around to face her, and she read the title out loud. "Non Omnis Moriar." She translated quickly in her head, "not all of me will die?"

"You know Latin?" Castle grinned. "So awesome!"

"I know poetry, Castle," she said with a bit of humour in her voice. "And I think that phrase is supposed to be hopeful."

"But wait until you look inside."

She gingerly opened the book and was startled by the images inside. They were all hand drawn, and the people (or things) looked to be in real pain. She flipped a few more pages and saw people that were deformed, and many other types of monsters. Her voice grew quiet. "Where did you get this, Castle?"

"I picked it up at this really weird occult store in the Village. I've been in the area tonnes before, but I've never noticed this place. There was just something about this book..." He shrugged. "And then I just kept getting ideas about things I wanted to write."

Kate continued turning the pages and she felt a shiver run down her spine. "These pages aren't even in English. I see Greek, Latin, and... Hebrew?"

"Aramaic, I think."

She stopped on the bookmarked page. Why anyone would want to bookmark that page was beyond her: it showed an extremely gruesome picture of some type of a demon with large horns and a bluish colour cast about his skin (or was it scales?) watching as a man that was seemingly decomposing was gnawing on the shoulder of a slight, tall woman. Her fingers brushed the photo gingerly. "She looks like me."

She leaned into the drawing for a closer look, and when she got closer to the page it looked like it almost started moving. The blue demon wasn't just watching. Was it controlling the man with peeling flesh? It looked like it. Maybe even laughing while it was happening.

Castle cleared his throat and she pulled away, the same chill going down her spine that she felt earlier and she shut the book with a slam. "What are you planning on doing with that, Castle?"

He paused and studied her. "You felt it too?"

She shook her head as if clear it. "I don't know what you're talking about." She took a deep breath. "I just investigate enough monsters in this job that I don't need to be looking for more."

"Your loss," he said flippantly before diving back in. "Oh, c'mon. Don't you want to know what it says? Doesn't this peak your interest? How cool would it be if Nikki Heat fought REAL monsters?"

Now that the book was closed the edge was starting to wear off, and she felt a bit more humourous. "Castle, you don't even know what it says. How are you going to use that book as source material?"

He shrugged and opened the book again, thumbing through it as he spoke. "I got the owner of that store to set me up with a linguist. He works at a network of private schools for girls, but he's apparently quite good. He can tell me what..." he paused on a random page with English letters and sounded out three lines of the foreign words. "Yeah. That. He can tell me what that means."

Kate felt the same chill run down her spine and she slammed the book shut. "Castle... they're probably just fairy tales that match the images. And if they match _those_ images? I'm not sure I want to hear them." She gave him a look and before he could answer the phone rang and she paused to answer it. "Alright, Castle, we got a body. Let's go."

He took the book and placed it back in his messenger bag. "Okay, but you should think of coming with me to meet my dead language expert. It might be fun!"

"Let's see how this dead body investigation goes before we start looking at dead languages. Got it?"

"I've got two days to change your mind. And that I shall do!" And with that he picked up his jacket and messenger bag, and got ready to go. "Now, what did you say about a body?"

* * *

Kate was tired. It was 7 PM and the past 2 days had gone by in a blur. There had been four crime scenes where there were bodies, but none of them were fresh. They were all recent deaths, though, and no connection between them. And of course, Castle was spinning all kinds of stories of zombies and vampires. Each case kept getting kicked down to robberies once they determined they weren't murders... but still. Showing up at these crime scenes were getting to her.

A large coffee was put in front of her and she gratefully reached for it. "Thanks, Castle," she said without even looking up from her notes.

He hovered and she finally looked up to see him with his jacket on and the messenger bag strapped over his shoulder. "Want to go meet a linguist with me?" he asked with an almost desperate smile.

She sighed and started putting the papers in front of her into nice piles. "Actually, Castle, I would love to."

"Wait, what? I thought you were against this whole fantasy book thing."

"I am, Castle, but then you told me what school this linguist works for. It shows up in a number of our investigations, and I thought I'd like to get a look inside. Or maybe get an ally. You tell me."

Castle shrugged. "We're going to go see a guy that knows dead languages at a school for girls. How could this possibly relate to your old cases?"

She smiled as she gathered up her things and led him out the door. "Well, whenever you say that..."

"I know, right? What could go wrong?"

* * *

A girl of maybe 13 answered the door and brought them through to the impossibly large library where Mr. Giles was to meet them, and then she left them alone. Castle was up immediately exploring, and Kate was checking the room out from where she sat.

The giant room was divided into four parts. One section was filled technology. Computers, smart boards, printers, and whatever else she could think of. The middle section held the tables where they were sitting. The walls were lined with books from top to bottom and another section held rows and rows of the bookshelves proper. Most surprising to Kate was the largest section of the room that was divided by a large metal grate. And of course, that's where Castle went first.

"Oh, I wonder what's in the restricted section. Spells? Potions? Books that scream?"

"This isn't Hogwarts, Castle." She scanned around the room, taking into account the large number of security cameras placed around the room. She alerted him and nodded to them, and he waved good naturedly at one of them.

She was about to roll her eyes when something made the hair on her arm stand up. Her attention grew sharp and Castle could see the abrupt change in her demeanor. "What is it?" he asked, immediately coming to her side and growing quiet.

"I don't know. There's something..." She un-buttoned her blazer, at the ready just in case, but nothing could have prepared her for the speed at which the mid-to-late-twenties blond girl flew across the room from a hidden door, knocking aside her freshly drawn gun, and pinning her against one of the bookshelves.

The breath was knocked out of her and by the time she regained control, the girl had Castle up against the wall, and Kate had a crossbow aimed at her heart. She looked over at Castle, and he was trying to explain something to the girl, but she soon stopped paying attention to him. She was much more focused on what was going on across the room.

There was a group of about 15 people across walking towards them, but something wasn't quite right. They were stiff, and not quite walking the way you would expect someone to walk. They were walking almost too slowly; and yet, they were all formally dressed. And one of them looked like the body they found at the crime scene that morning. She heard a growl and as the girl's focus shifted, Castle collapsed to the ground, dropping out of the danger of the girl's knife. She exhaled. He somehow got away.

The girl turned to the man. "Giles, who are these people?"

The man spoke up for the first time, the crossbow never wavering. "I got a phone call from an author, apparently, in need of a linguist for dead languages."

The group of people continued impossibly slowly towards them, and a group of younger girls followed them with weapons. "Mr. Giles?" one of them called out, as if this wasn't a rare occurrence. "What do you want us to do?"

Giles and the older blonde girl looked at each other, both looking much more scared than any of the girls, and Kate wondered again what was going on. She looked at Castle, who was still struggling on the ground, and she realized she had to step up.

"I'm Kate Beckett. I work with the NYPD. He's Richard Castle, a mystery writer, and consultant for the NYPD. We mean you no harm. Castle here just bought a book from an occult shop a few days ago, and is thinking of expanding his writing into fantasy." The man glanced at Castle again, and she could feel that she was breaking through, so she let some iron enter her voice. "Now can you please take the crossbow and aim it somewhere else? Because I think we might have bigger issues right now."

The man looked at the girl and with a nod they both turned around to face the group of people coming toward them, and Kate rushed to Castle's side. "You okay?"

"Yeah, but Beckett, isn't one of those people..."

"The body from this morning? Yeah."

"What the heck is going on here?"

Giles addressed them while still keeping his arrow on the group. "Mr. Castle, the book that you bought. Do you have it here?"

Castle nodded quickly. "It's in that bag. On the table."

Giles expertly threw the crossbow at the girl (who was still giving Castle a dirty look while she caught it) and went over to the table where the messenger bag still lay. "The lost book of Flaccus. It was thought to be destroyed centuries ago."

"Yeah, cool, whatever. What are these things?"

Kate watched as Giles thumbed quickly through the book, and then grew still. "Mr. Castle," he said abruptly. "Did you happen to read anything out loud?"

He sprung to his feet and made his way over to where Giles was, and Kate saw that the weird group of people seemed to change direction when Castle did. "Did you see how they followed...?" she muttered to the girl, who was coming to a different conclusion of her own.

"Caleb." The arrow was once again pointed at him, and Kate took the opportunity to get closer to the girl when she started to speak again. "Giles, the zombie people are following him. I don't know how it's him, but it is."

"Is who?" Kate asked at the same time that Castle yelped, "Zombies?"

"Mr. Castle," Giles began again. "Do you know which page you read from? It is extremely important. If we can find out why these things are here, then we can find out if there is any real threat."

Kate watched as the "zombie people" moved closer and closer to where Mr. Giles and Castle were standing, and she knew she had to take action. "Castle!" she demanded. "Go over to the far side of the room, over there. Cross behind me."

He looked scared between the group of zombies and the girl with the crossbow, and the girl narrowed her eyes. "Stay where I can see you."

Castle ran around her and just as Kate expected, the group turned and started walking towards Castle again. "They're following him," Kate said, and finally accepting this weird chain of events. "They've always been following him. They're just too slow to ever catch him. And my bet is, they only animate at night." Kate looked at the two strangers and when they nodded, she shook her head. "Look, since we've been here you've thrown us both around, we've been invaded by the sometimes dead, and you've acted like my partner is the one to be feared. I have no idea what's going here, but we're going to get some answers. And we're going to start with your name."

The blonde looked at Kate warily before extending her hand begrudgingly. "I'm Buffy Summers. This is Giles. We run the school."

"And those things would be…?" Kate said, gesturing over to the zombie creatures. The tension and fright had now faded, but the mystery remained.

"We're working on that," said Giles, now polishing his glasses. "Your colleague failed to remember what he read out loud. Do you have any idea?

Kate started to shake her head but then the image she looked at when Castle first showed her the book came into her mind. She flipped quickly to the page and was astounded. The decomposing figure on the page matched one of the people in the room now. "It was this one. Definitely from here."

Everyone was silently peering over the page when Giles started to chuckle. "Oh, bloody hell." He then made a sort of incomprehensible guttural noise and from behind him, a cloud of smoke started to appear and the blue scaly monster from the page appeared.

Giles continued to make the same incomprehensible sounds and the monster responded like they were having a conversation. Kate took the time to check up on Castle, who was changing his position ever few minutes to keep the group far enough away that he could make a quick escape if needed.

"So," Kate said to Buffy, who was now frowning at Castle. "This sort of thing happen often?"

"Often enough," she said distractedly. She glared again at Castle, and finally addressed Kate directly. "That guy, Castle?" She waited for Kate to nod, and then continued. "You know him well?"

"Very. We've worked together for over 3 years."

"Has he ever shown any super human strength?" She paused briefly as Kate shook her head. "Been dangerous? Or violent?"

"Castle? No. He's saved my life. More than once. He has a teenage daughter who's perfect. And as much as I always hate to admit it, he helps me solve my cases."

Buffy nodded distractedly again, this time watching Giles and the blue scaly monster grunt.

"This guy you thought he was, Caleb? He was dangerous?"

Kate never thought she heard someone's voice go so serious as Buffy's did right then. "Yes. Which is why I killed him."

In all her years as a homicide cop, she never thought she would walk away from someone saying those words, but right at that moment, she knew it was the only thing she could do.

Giles and the monster were finishing up, and Giles was retrieving a sword from the gated area. The monster took it, bowed to Giles, and disappeared with the group of strange animated people leaving Castle alone on the other side of the room. The group of young girls with weapons still by the first door looked around dejectedly, and upon seeing that the threat had gone, turned around and shut the door behind them.

Castle spun around a few times as if unsure at the threat had truly gone, but then broke out into a huge smile. "That was SO COOL. What was that? Who was that guy with the sword? Where did they go?" He looked giddy and practically bounced back to the table where the others were and Kate had to smile.

"Really?" Buffy asked her sceptically. "He's saved your life?"

Kate shrugged and Giles was polishing his glasses again. "Would anyone care for some tea?"

* * *

It was almost 4 hours later when they finally left the school, Buffy and Giles waving behind them with promises to help if they ever need it.

"So, let's summarize this evening, shall we?" Castle began as soon as they were out of earshot. "Re-animated corpses were following me around whenever the sun was set for the past few days, in an elaborate attempt for that blue guy and the old lady that sold me the book in the first place to get the sword that Giles didn't even need in the first place."

Kate continued. "Yes. And vampires are real, and our safety is entrusted to a group of young girls that have the power to stop them."

"And I look like a guy that the lead girl killed to save all the other girls, and to stop the apocalypse."

They got quiet again as they got to the street and waited for a cab. "This is going to take some getting used to. You have to promise me something, Castle."

"Anything."

"Don't ever touch anything from another occult store again? And don't EVER read anything out loud if you don't know what it means."

"Beckett, I think I'm going to leave the fantasy and supernatural to the people more equipped to handle it. Nikki Heat will just be fighting our run-of-the-mill bad guys. You can count on it."

The cab pulled up in front of them then, and she gave one last look at the school behind her. "I kind of like the idea of a superhero, one that fights to keep the world safe and oblivious. Don't you?"

With a smile and a nod they both got into the cab, breathing a sigh of relief. "Yeah, Beckett. I really do."

* * *

**Prompts:**  
**"During an investigation, complications arise"**  
**"Don't touch that!"**  
**Modified: "[Character] seeks out more linguists and comes across Giles at an interesting time"**


End file.
